Day 34

We almost got a full marathon in today and the rain held off! 

We woke up at 6:45 and of the two groups in the shelter, we were the first to get moving. The weather people had called for gusts between 50 and 60 to come through our area of TN the night before, but we thankfully really didn't experience them. Even if our whole intention for staying in the shelter didn't materialize, we still slept well last night. In fact, since it was moderately warm, that was the first time that I had really slept decently in two days.

We got on the trail by 8:15, and spent the morning walking through rhododendren forests. There was the occasional moment where we'd pop out into more hardwoods, but for the first 9.5 miles of the day we skirted ridges, walked in rhodos, and passed a few small waterfalls. 

Around 12 we stopped for lunch at a shelter to get out of the wind and slight rain that had started. Originally, there was supposed to be rain all day long, and anywhere from a half inch to 3/4 inch of rain. Yet by 1, we had barely even gotten more than a sprinkling here or there.

The early afternoon consisted of us climbing down from elevation and working our way towards, and then along, laurel creek. The rain picked up slightly at different periods during this time, but the hike was rather simplistic, other than a really steep descent along some slippery rocks right before laurel falls. Although not bigger than amicalola, I'm pretty sure laurel falls is the second larger waterfall on trail -- at least from what I've seen it is. 

After going 18.7 miles, we stopped to eat our second lunch and load up on some food before going up and over our final climb of the day. Roughly 1.5 miles after the falls, you reach the bottom of pond flats mountain. Here, you go up 1,800 feet, and down 1,800 feet, in a little less than 6 miles. 

I think we started our ascent at 4:15 or so, and by 6:30 we dropped back down and crossed U.S. route 321, south of watauga lake. At this point, we walked about another mile or so and setup camp for the night, right on the side of the lake. 

Overall, the day wasn't to bad. We did more than 25 miles, the rain held off, we got up and over pond flats which is the last big climb in TN, and we felt good after a long day. 

Daily recap: 
- Total miles hiked: 25.2
- From mile marker 404.4 to 429.6
- From mountaineer falls shelter to watauga lake
- High temp: 50 and partly rainy
- Low temp (morning): 40 and cloudy
- low temp (tonight): 50 and rain
- Total ascent: 5,213 feet
- Total descent: 6,391 feet

Thanks for following along. 
Tyler M.

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